The Auburn University women’s tennis team season ended Saturday afternoon after a 4-0 loss to NC State in the NCAA Super Regional in Raleigh, North Carolina. Auburn completed the season with a 20-9 overall record and their fourth trip to the NCAA round of 16 in program history.
This season also marks the seventh season that Auburn has reached the 20-win milestone. Arseneault and Ansari will compete as individuals in NCAA singles and doubles competition later this month at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
The Auburn duo will play as a doubles team and singles in the event. In doubles, Auburn’s top doubles team of Carolyn Ansari and Ariana Arseneault fell to No. 4 Diana Shnaider and Alana Smith with a score of 6-1 on court one.
Angella Okutoyi and Adeline Flach led the majority of their game over Abigal Rencheli and Sophie Abrams on court three, but the game was adjourned with Okutoyi and Flach leading 5-3 due to a second NC State doubles victory over NC State on court two.
The Wolfpack grabbed the doubling point for the 26th time this season to take a 1-0 lead. NC State jumped out to an early lead on each of the top five courts in the first set. Okutoyi came back from a first set deficit to win the first set against 87th ranked Abigail Rencheli 6-4.
Arseneault also erased an early deficit in her first set with No. 7 Diana Shnaider to force a tiebreaker on court one, but ultimately lost the first set in the tiebreaker. After leading the first set early on, Flach also lost her first set in a tiebreaker to Gina Dittmann.
Sophie Abrams’ 6-1, 6-1 win over Kaitlyn Carnicella was the first singles match to go, which gave the Wolfpack a 2-0 lead in the match. After dropping her first set, DJ Bennett came back to force a third set on third court against Amelia Rajecki, the 26th ranked player in the country.
Ansari fell to Smith, the 13th singles player in the nation with a score of 7-5, 6-0 and moments later Shnaider finished off a straight set win against Arseneault to clinch the team win for NC State. Auburn coach Caroline Lilley said after the match: “Firstly, credit to NC State and the program they built.
Their crowd was outstanding and it was so hard to build momentum with the support they had behind them in the stands. Today there were really good moments. When you’re on the road against a quality team, exploiting the windows is what ultimately determines the outcome.
We were blinking at times, too indecisive and passive. The fight is always there with this team growth is really exciting for the future. As we digest this match as well as others, we will remain consistent in pursuing long-term growth.
Our culture is unshakable and there are some leaders who are starting to blossom into taking responsibility and embracing the accountability. I am fortunate to lead this program, grateful for our staff and ready to be better tomorrow through today.”
About the Auburn University
Auburn is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States.
With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest in the state. Auburn University’s sports teams are known as the Tigers and compete in Division I-A of the NCAA and the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
Auburn has won 19 intercollegiate championships (including 17 NCAA championships), three of them in football (1913, 1957, 2010), 8 in men’s swimming and diving (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 ), 5 in women’s swimming and diving (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007), 2 in equestrian (2008, 2011), and one in women’s track and field (2006).
Auburn has also won a total of 70 Southeastern Conference titles, 51 men’s and 19 women’s. Auburn’s colors are orange and blue, chosen by George Petrie, the head coach of the college’s football team, inspired by the colors of his alma mater, the University of Virginia.
Auburn was founded on February 7, 1856 during the presidency of Franklin Pierce, as East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts school affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1872 the college became the first public university to benefit from the Morrill Act and was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama.
